Pretty Damn Perfect
by Tetsu-sama
Summary: Tonight, his life was pretty damn perfect.  Jules/Sam.
1. Chapter 1

A drabble I've had in my head since watching "Personal Effects". I LOVE this episode; it went above and beyond my expectations. I'm attempting to get my creative juices flowing again here with this short piece. I have an idea I'm playing around with in my journal to turn this into a full blown story (in which this would be the prologue) so any and all feedback is welcome. Enjoy!

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><p>"You're sure about this?"<p>

He needed to know that she would put them first this time. If they did this, he wouldn't be able to go back and be just colleagues. Pretend he'd never caressed her face in the morning when she woke up next to him. Pretend he'd never kissed every bruise and scar on her petite frame. Pretend he didn't love her.

He wouldn't give her up, not this time. Sam wasn't a rookie anymore. Not in his place on the team and the confidence he had in his position there, or in this relationship with her. He would fight harder for them this time, work harder to make it so neither of them had to leave their family on team one. Because letting her leave again was not in the tactical plan.

"There's no place in the world I'd rather be."

Sam hadn't known he wanted to hear those words so badly. But when the mirror of the sentence he had uttered earlier came from her lips they were suddenly the most perfect thing he'd ever heard. The light smile that graced her lips and shined through her eyes pulled him towards her. The kiss was gentle and full of promise, the heat and passion from the morning still there but none of the urgency.

Grasping her hands Sam pulled Jules toward his open bedroom door. Walking through the door, hands clasped, Sam knew no matter what happened with team one he would have his own family to come home to, Jules.

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><p>Laying in a post coitus haze Sam nuzzled his face against the back of Jules head. Her breathing was slow, measured, content. He kissed the back of her head taking in the smell that was all sweat, and beautifully Jules. His arm snaked around her waist pulling her close.<p>

"I'm not going anywhere Sam," Jules mumbled. Her fingers intertwined with his, mimicking the intertwining limbs of their bodies. "Not this time."

She had thought about a second chance with Sam more than she cared to admit. In the silence of her home at night where it had once wrung with their laughter, the missing banter at work, and his boyish grin that hadn't been just for her since she broke things off. The last twenty four hours been beyond brutal, requiring more mental stamina then when she had been shot. Every thing she believed in, her identity on team one, the careful team dynamic, the foundation she had build her life around had been torn down. With her foundation crumbling one person had stayed afloat among the flotsam and jetsam of team one.

"Jules?" Sam questioned her contemplative silence.

"I don't think I care anymore Sam," Jules responded. Rolling over into his chest Sam could feel the smile on her face. "I want my cake, and I want to eat it too."

Sam let out a laugh which rumbled through his body. The vibrations caused Jules to lookup into his bright blue eyes. His left hand caressed her arm as it slid up, over her shoulder and into her hair.

"I don't think I care anymore either, Jules."

"We're going to have to be much more careful this time."

"We'll make it work Jules, we will. I think I could make just about anything work for you."

Jules squirmed up, kissing Sam softly. Turning to his back Sam pulled Jules close against his side, her head coming to rest on his chest. As her breath evened out to the peaceful melody of one happily asleep a grin spread across Sam's face. Tonight, his life was pretty damn perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

So I decided to make a go for it at the whole story writing bit. I would like to state now that I wrote my outline BEFORE the airing of "Good Cop". So any similarities are just my awesome author powers at work :) This turned out a little choppier than I would have liked, but I'm happy to have worked out the next chapter nonetheless. Nothing but the narrative is mine. Any and all feedback is welcome. Enjoy!

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><p>"Jules?"<p>

"Yea boss?" Jules took a good look at her mentor as she turned to respond. The lines of his face looked harder, his eyes more sunken as if he hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Deepening on how long he'd been at the hospital with Ed's family it was possible he hadn't gotten any. The weight of the world looked like it had settled on his shoulders.

"You have a minute to go over your psyche evaluation before the team meets up?"

"Of course." Mentally preparing herself for the conversation she had known was coming since Dr. Toth's interrogation the day before, Jules followed Greg into the briefing room. Pulling a chair out her thoughts briefly turned to Sam. There were no words for waking up wrapped up in the arms of the man you loved.

"What's the occasion?" Greg asked, motioning to the smile on her face.

"Just glad Ed, Sophie and Isabel are going to be ok." It wasn't a lie.

Greg sat slowly in the chair at the head of the table. He'd seen Sam reach for Jules hand at the hospital. He'd seen Jules pull away. He'd also seen the anguish in his two team member's eyes while questioned about the other the previous day. But that smile on Jules face. The smile filled in the missing links for Greg. He was glad Ed, Sophie and Isabel were okay too, but he wasn't walking around with a smile like a girl who had just realized her first crush.

"You and Sam," Greg put up a hand to stop the protest on Jules tongue. "If it crosses the line, Jules, you'll both be expelled from the SRU."

"Greg," Jules said softly, reaching across the table to grab the sergeant's hand. "We won't let it cross the line."

A sad smile came to Greg's face. He couldn't bring himself to tell Jules the second part of Toth's condition. That he would be disciplined as well if Sam and Jules relationship became anything but platonic. If he and Jules were having this conversation a year ago he probably would have laid down the law. The relationship Greg had thought of as something of a fling had turned into something so much deeper. If he wasn't sure that no one would be better for the women he had come to see as a daughter than Sam Braddock he would have put a stop to the illicit relationship on his team.

"I can't know this time Jules. If I know, Toth knows, and that's unacceptable."

Jules jumped up to envelop Greg in a warm hug. "You won't be able to tell a thing."

"Good." Greg smiled, patting Jules on the back. "I'm going to talk to Sam and then I don't want to hear anything about this again."

"Yes, sir." Jules replied.

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><p>"Today you've got the good news for us, right Boss?" Spike's signature drawl cut across the silence of the briefing room.<p>

"Why yes Spike, I do," Greg stated, setting down the folder he had been reading from on the table. "We have a new team leader to break in, Sam."

Sam's eyes widened as Wordy thumped him enthusiastically on the back.

"Samtastic!" Spike exclaimed, pounding his hands on the table in a drum role.

Jules eyes found Sam's across the table. Brown locked onto blue. "Congratulations Sam, you've earned it."

"Thanks, Jules."

"Hey, no thank you for me or Wordy?" Spike pouted.

Wordy gave Sam another thump on the back. "That's okay. You can thank us by taking the team out to drinks after shift today."

Sam grinned, "Deal."

Greg stood, surveying his team. Wordy had seniority on Sam, but Ed had been working hard with Sam on tactics. Sam was a natural leader; he had the unquantifiable quality that drove people to follow him. Team one would trust his decisions. "Alright team, gear up. We'll have Sam run us through some drills to break him in."

Wordy stood, dragging Spike with him toward the locker room. Sam smothered a grimace at the mischievous look on Spike's face. He had no doubt Spike would be talking Wordy into some stunt at his expenses.

"Sam, a word?" Greg called as Sam went to follow Jules out of the break room. Her slight pause gave Sam the impression Greg had snagged her for a 'word' earlier that morning. Waiting until Jules was out of ear shot Greg began, "You and Jules-"

"Boss…" Sam attempted to intervene, but Greg cut him off.

"As team leader you're decision are going to send her into compromising situations. Will that be a problem?"

Sam's heart skipped a beat as he pictured Jules body crumbling to the ground, shot through by sniper fire. He heard his mouth form the words, "no, sir."

"Alright, Sam," Greg sighed. The younger man was getting defensive. Sam could be hotheaded at times, and his feelings and relationship with Jules was anything but straightforward and calming. Greg couldn't imagine Ed having to make the call to send Sophie into a dangerous situation. The game changes when someone you care about enters the playing field.

"Boss, I wouldn't insult her professionally like that." But deep down Sam wondered, how would he handle the pressure of sending Jules into the fray?

"You hurt her, you've got the whole team to answer to," Greg stated in all seriousness.

"Yes, sir," Sam replied. Reaching out he offered his hand to Greg. Taking it Greg hoped Sam could stay true to his word.

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><p>Sam's short stent running the team through hand to hand drills was cut short as sirens started going off in the command center.<p>

"What do we have Winnie?" Greg asked, walking towards the front desk.

"911 coming in now. Possible home invasion in progress, Forest Hill area." Winnie recited the facts as she listened to the information being fed to her ear.

"Send the address to our PDA's," Sam ordered. "Let's go keep the peace."

"Lead on fearless TL," Spike chuckled. Motioning to Wordy the two headed toward the garage.

Jules frowned as she looked at the map Winnie had sent to PDA. Greg had ridden with Wordy while Spike drove the truck. This had left her and Sam to drive together, so far in silence.

"This is a pretty affluent neighborhood. We could be looking at a professional crew."

"I'll have Spike check recent break-ins in the area when we arrive," Sam replied. "So the Boss talked to me."

"Me too. We're off SRU if we get caught this time."

Sam glanced a surprised look at Jules. Greg hadn't mentioned anything to him. "Told me he'd kick my ass if I hurt you."

Jules eyes softened. Their sergeant was too damn perceptive for his own good sometimes. "Guess he knew I'm the responsible one in this relationship," she smirked.

The crackling of the radio brought the job back into focus as the caravan pulled up to the front of a large manor house. The pale blue house looked like something you might find in New England, with a large wrap around veranda and manicured hedges.

"First responder reports shots fired. We've got a possible active shooter." Greg's voice came over the earpiece.

Sam and Jules shared a lingering look before jumping out the SUV. Walking in measured strides to the trunk Sam let his mind think to the task ahead. Jules person and her safety had never really left the edge of his consciousness even after she had broken things off. This second chance had pushed all those thought back to the front of his mind. If anything went wrong…he was in charge…his hands clenched. A soft hand rested over his closed fist, Jules bright face looked up at him. Sam let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"Let's do this," Jules stated, "we make a great team." Moveing her hand she began checking her gear, Sam doing the same.

"No recent break-ins in the area Boss," Spike reported, walking towards Greg who had joined Sam and Jules.

"New crew?" Wordy suggested.

"Could make them easier to talk down. Less to loose if this is the first offense," Sam added.

"It could also make whoever's in their sloppy and scared. And that's dangerous," Jules stated.

"Let's get eyes and ears in before we make any snap decisions," Greg said with finality. "I want to know exactly who we're dealing with here. Spike, let's get you back in the truck. I want to know everything about the owners of this home. "

A few minuets later Wordy had found an entry for the snake cam through an open kitchen window. As the black and white picture flickered into focus a middle aged Anglo couple materialized. The women sat quietly on a kitchen chair. The man appeared agitated, sweat pouring down his face, fists clenched at his side. A shattered glass vase spoke to the target of the earlier gun shot. A male youth of African descent held a pistol in two clenched hands, pointed directly at the other male's head.

"I know she's here! Why won't you let me see her!" The young man yelled.

"Jason…" the older man turned the name into a low growl. Both started as Greg's voice filtered through the open window.

"My name is Sergeant Greg Parker with the Strategic Response Unit. I'm going to be calling the house phone and I'd really appreciate it if someone would answer."

Sam motioned Jules and Wordy toward the rear of the home, prepared for a hard tactical entry. As sierra one Sam had found a sniper perch with a line of sight through the kitchen window. Spike remained in the truck digging up intell on Patricia and Edward Whittaker, owners of the Forest Hill home.

The phone rang twice before the boy, Jason, picked up. One shaky hand remained trained on Edward Whittaker.

"Hello?"

"This is Greg Parker, may I ask to whom I'm speaking?"

"Jason. Jason Smart," the boy replied slowly.

"Jason, good. Can you let me know if everyone in alright in there?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Whittaker are fine," Jason ground out.

Greg mentally noted Jason's use of formal titles with the older couple. The subject knew the hostages but was not close enough to refer to them by their first names. "Thank you Jason. Can I ask you what's brought us all here today?"

"It's there fault!" Sam watched Jason gesture wildly toward the older couple with the hand gun. "They won't let me see her. They're sending her away to some boarding school!"

"Boss, he's escalating," Sam stated. "Alpha team, be ready for hard entry."

"Hold sierra one, hold Alpha team," Greg responded, switching to the comm. "Spike, any idea who this 'she' is?"

"The Whittaker's have a daughter, Sarah, fifteen. Could be her Boss," Spike replied. "Some kind of Romeo and Juliet going on here?"

"Let's hope not," Sam said, "they both end up dead at the end of that story."

Uncovering his cell phone Greg resumed his conversation with the subject. "Okay, Jason, Okay. Are you talking about Sarah?"

"Of course Sarah!" Jason exclaimed. "We love each other," he turned fully towards Edward Whittaker, "and he's keeping us apart!" With a click the phone line went dead.

No telephone call or surveillance tech was needed to hear the fury in Mr. Whittaker's voice as he began yelling. "You animal! You're tainting my daughter. Bringing her down to your level, you'll never see her again!"

"Mr. Whittaker," Greg spoke over the megaphone, "we all need to try and remain very calm right now."

"The hell I will! This boy is going to ruin all the dreams I have for my daughter. If I'd known what letting her volunter at that community center down south would have lead to…she needs to be sent away from him!"

"Boss, he's escalating him. We've got to get in there," Sam stated. "Alpha team, hard entry, hard entry."

As Wordy finished the count down to entry, Jules ready with a submachine gun, a blond girl rushed the police barrier with her black Lexus. Jumping out of the still running car she sprinted up the drive of her house, bowling past the uniformed officer that made a grab for her. Bursting into the kitchen a glint of metallic silver caught the harsh kitchen light as she pulled a pistol out of her purse.

"Don't you dare hurt him!"

Sam stared down the scope of his sniper rifle in shock as Jules came face to face with the barrel of a very angry fifteen year old girl's pistol.


End file.
